BEFORE MOZART: Early Horn Concertos (BIS BIS-2315)

FIVE horn concertos from the five decades before Mozart make a fun programme for a brilliant player. Scottish virtuoso alec FrankGemmill and the Swedish chamber Orchestra under Nicholas McGegan start with an enjoyable work by Telemann, which takes us back to the late Baroque. Frank-Gemmill uses three different instruments: a double horn serves for the work by christoph Foerster and the concerto, which Haydn wrote for Mozart’s friend Leutgeb. Johann Baptist Georg Neruda, a czech violinist-composer who worked in Germany, provides a piece for the stratospheric high horn, as does Mozart’s father Leopold. The Leopold Mozart, done one-to-apart, has four delightful movements. In the Haydn, Frank-Gemmill plays across an amazing range. Superb recordings increase our pleasure. ★★★★★